Davis Keeping An Eye On Futbol And Football

Young corner will be paying attention to all the happenings in Brazil as the World Cup opens today.

Will Davis was his typical gregarious self when he recently sat down for an interview with The Finsiders, talking enthusiastically about heading into his second season, his personal expectations and his memorable offseason trip.

But Davis really lit up when the topic turned to the European brand of football, better known throughout this country as soccer.

And when Finsiders host Greg Likens brought up the World Cup, Davis’ quick and simple reply was, “Yeaaaah!”

The 2014 FIFA World Cup gets under way later today when host country Brazil takes on Croatia, and you can expect Davis to try to catch a lot of the action — particularly after the Dolphins wrap up their offseason conditioning program with their three-day minicamp next week.

“Me and a couple of guys actually are going to try to make it out there (to Brazil),” Davis said. “Cam Wake was talking about it; I think (Randy) Starks, too. We’ll see if it all works out, but we’re definitely trying to go out there.”

Davis never played soccer in high school, unlike Dolphins kicker Caleb Sturgis, but he professed his love for the sport during his Finsiders appearance.

Getting the chance to meet soccer players actually was a big highlight for Davis when he vacationed in Paris during the offseason.

“It was a great experience going out there,” Davis said. “I had a friend out there. I met up with her. It was fun just being there having a local ... she’s already lived there and showing me everywhere. I got to see everything. At the same time, I had my boys out there, too, so it was a dope situation.

“Matuidi Blaise, he’s number 14 on PSG (Paris Saint-Germain) soccer and I love soccer. I got to meet up with him through mutual friends, so it was good to get to know him. I ended up getting a jersey, PSG jersey, and all that stuff. Just being around some of the European professional soccer players was just an amazing experience, too. Just being somewhere foreign and just the whole experience, the museums ... I mean, I could go on for days.

“It was honestly a great experience being out there. I think about it all the time. It was fun.”

When it comes to the World Cup, Davis obviously will be rooting for the United States, although he says he’s hoping for big things for Portugal and star player Ronaldo.

Under Davis’ ideal scenario, then, the United States and Portugal would advance from the challenging Group G, which also includes Germany and Ghana.

Ghana, incidentally, faced the Korean Republic on Monday night in the last of a series of pre-World Cup friendlies at Sun Life Stadium.

Last August, Sun Life Stadium played host to the championship game of the inaugural Guinness International Champions Cup, and Davis was there to watch.

It was a special night in many ways for Davis because his favorite team, Real Madrid, came away with a 3-1 victory on the strength of two goals by his favorite player, Ronaldo.

“I got a chance to watch that on the field, and to see my favorite player in real life, my favorite team in real life, on the field, that was an amazing experience,” Davis said. “I’m all Madrid, Real Madrid, all day. Champions League, got that, which was great. It was a great win. The game was amazing.”

As for the World Cup and the U.S. team, Davis said he was surprised by the much-debated decision to leave veteran Landon Donovan off the roster.

“I don’t really see the inside of what really went on in the camps and what the coaches feel,” Davis said. “The coach, I feel like he has a great history and great experience in soccer, what he’s done when he was a player. He knows what he’s doing.

“They’ve got a tough group. They got Portugal and my boy Ronaldo in there and they got Germany and, of course, Ghana’s been their Kryptonite the last couple of World Cups; that’s the team that’s been knocking them out the last two World Cups. They got a tough little group, so it’s going to be highly competitive. Hopefully he brings his best 23.”

Davis has another soccer event to look forward to, with the 2014 International Cup Finals scheduled for Sun Life Stadium on Monday, Aug. 4.